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The  Complete  Idea  of  the  World's  Conversion  to  Jesus  Christ. 


A 

SERMON, 

BEFORE  THE 

AMERICAN  BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS 
FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS, 

AT  THEIR 

MEETING  IN  PITTSFIELD,  MASS. 

SEPTEMBER  25,  1866. 

BY 

LAURENS  P.  HICKOK,  D.D. 

President  of  Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 


BOSTON: 

PRESS  OF  T.  R.  MARVIN  & SON,  42  CONGRESS  STREET. 

1 8 6 6. 


AMERICAN  BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS  FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 


Pittsfield,  Mass.,  October,  1S66. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Board  be  presented  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hickok,  for 
his  Sermon  preached  on  Tuesday  evening,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a copy 


for  publication. 

Attest, 

JOHN  0.  MEANS,  Rec.  Secretary. 

SERMON. 


PIIILLIPPIANS  ii.  10,  11. 

THAT  AT  THE  NAME  OF  JESUS  EVERT  KNEE  SHOULD  BOW,  OF  THINGS  IN 
HEAVEN,  AND  THINGS  ON  EARTH,  AND  THINGS  UNDER  THE  EARTH  ; AND  THAT 
EVERT  TONGUE  SHOULD  CONFESS  THAT  JESUS  CHRIST  IS  LORD,  TO  THE 
GLORT  OF  GOD  THE  FATHER. 


The  conversion  of  the  world  of  mankind  to  a godly 
life  is  exclusively  a Christian  idea.  Avarice  may  dream 
of  possessing  the  wealth  of  the  world,  ambition  may 
covet  the  power  of  the  -world,  poetry  and  philosophy 
may  fondly  talk  of  a golden  age,  but  that  this  world 
of  sinners  shall  one  day  become  completely  holy,  is 
the  grand  idea  no  where  found  save  in  the  revealed 
Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Ideas  govern  the  world.  Armies  and  navies  are 
begotten  of  ideas,  and  they  are  used  for  nothing  else 
than  that  they  may  make  these  ideas  to  become  reali- 
ties. And  the  power  of  ideas  in  controlling  the 
church  is  quite  as  conspicuous  as  in  governing  the 
world.  The  church  never  rises  above,  and  never  goes 
beyond  her  idea  of  Christian  life  and  duty,  either  in 
her  experimental  piety,  or  in  her  missionary  zeal  and 
effort.  The  idea  once  fully  reached  and  the  impulse 
is  exhausted,  and  all  further  exertion  ceases. 


4 


The  text  contains  the  general  Gospel  idea  of  the 
world’s  conversion  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  this 
even  more  comprehensive  than  our  world,  for  it  in- 
cludes “ things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth  and 
things  under  the  earth,”  and  thereby  affirms  of  angels, 
men  and  devils,  that  either  by  constraint  or  willingly, 
they  shall  all  bow  to  the  mediatorial  sovereignty  of 
Jesus  Christ.  So  far,  however,  as  this  is  to  inspire 
our  work,  the  idea  will  be  comprehensively  attained, 
and  its  missionary  impulse  exhausted,  when  all  the 
dwellers  upon  our  globe  shall  have  been  turned  to  the 
Lord.  But  the  general  idea  is  given  in  a peculiar 
form,  enabling  us  to  determine  what  is  the  essential 
completeness  of  this  conversion  itself.  This  is  of 
deeper  interest  than  any  question  of  its  comprehensive- 
ness, since  our  satisfaction  in  the  numbers  converted 
must  be  found  in  the  excellency  and  completeness  of 
the  conversion  effected.  When  all  are  converted  to 
the  Lord,  or  so  fast  as  any  are  converted,  we  need  to 
know  more  especially  what  this  conversion  is  when 
carried  out  to  its  full  measure.  This  may  be  found 
from  the  text  selected,  more  directly  than  perhaps  from 
any  other  passage  of  Scripture. 

The  great  importance  of  apprehending  this  Christian 
idea  in  all  its  completeness  is,  as  we  have  said,  because 
no  one  rises  above,  nor  goes  beyond,  his  completed 
idea.  The  man  who  has  equaled  his  full  thought  of 
the  Christian  life  in  his  own  experience,  will  make  no 
further  effort  for  higher  attainments,  nor  will  he  urge 
others  to  any  greater  measures  of  growing  sanctifica- 
tion. Our  missionaries  who  go  out  to  the  heathen, 
and  we  who  at  home  support  them  by  our  contributions 
and  our  prayers,  have  each  of  us  some  idea  of  what 
these  heathen  are  to  become  when  converted  to  Chris- 


5 


tianity ; and  neither  our  missionaries  nor  we  ourselves 
will  labor  or  pray  to  get  our  converted  heathen  con- 
formed to  any  other  standard  than  our  own  complete 
idea  of  Christian  faith  and  practice. 

Permitted,  then,  as  we  are  by  a kind  Providence,  to 
convene  so  auspiciously  on  another  Anniversary  of  our 
American  Board  of  Missions,  we  may  perhaps  most 
profitably  open  our  meeting  by  the  important  inquiry — 
What  is  the  full  import  of  the  inspired  declaration, 
“ that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father?”  This  will  be 
equivalent  to  the  question — Wiiat  is  tiie  inspired 

IDEA  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  IN  ITS  FULL  MEASURE? 

An  old  Rabbinical  legend  represents  heaven  as 
divided  into  seven  concentric  spheres.  In  the  first,  or 
nearest  to  the  earth,  are  the  souls  least  sanctified. 
Rising  thence  ' in  ascent,  as  in  sanctification,  to  the 
highest,  in  this,  the  seventh  sphere,  the  perfected  for 
ever  dwell  amid  the  unclouded  glories  of  Jehovah. 
All  are  accepted  of  God  in  every  sphere,  and  the  lowest 
may  hereafter  rise  to  the  highest,  but  their  appropriate 
spheres  are  determined  by  the  specific’  amount  of  holi- 
ness attained.  And  here,  perhaps,  we  might  assume 
different  degrees  in  sanctification,  and  plausibly  illus- 
trate their  distinction,  up  to  this  perfect  number  of 
seven  separate  grades  of  holiness  ; but  I shall  have 
accomplished  my  present  purpose,  if  I can  secure  your 
recognition  of  three  pretty  definitely  marked  phases  of 
Christian  character  and  experience.  The  last  only  is 
the  Gospel  idea  of  the  Christian  life  in  its  complete- 
ness, for  the  realization  of  which  none  of  us  should 
cease  to  labor  and  pray,  till  it  shall  have  obtained  uni- 
versal prevalence  in  the  world. 


6 


I.  That  form  of  Christian  life  which  manifests  itself 
mainly  in  kindness. 

Kindness,  as  the  name  imports,  is  a regard  for  the 
welfare  of  our  kind.  It  may  sometimes  be  known  as 
humanity — an  interest  in  human  beings;  or  philan- 
thropy— a love  to  man ; or  benevolence — a wishing 
well  to  our  race  ; but  by  whatever  name  it  may  be 
known,  we  now  fix  our  attention  upon  the  thing  itself, 
and  attain  a definite  apprehension  of  what  the  Chris- 
tian life  is,  when  controlled  mainly  by  the  law  of 
kindness. 

Human  experience  has  its  frequent  periods  of  joy 
and  gladness.  Ordinarily,  life  passes  through  many 
scenes  brightened  by  plenty  and  prosperity,  and  sweet- 
ened with  peace  and  social  harmony.  And  yet,  in  our 
fallen  world,  it  passes  also  through  frequent  seasons 
of  sadness  and  sorrow.  If  not  literally  sighing  and 
weeping,  yet  is  a large  portion  of  our  experience 
darkened  by  disappointments  and  bereavements,  wants 
and  cares,  so  that  often  the  shadows  exceed  the  sun- 
shine, and  multitudes  of  every  generation  travel  on 
perpetually  through  “ a vale  of  tears.”  , 

Christian  kindness  will  manifest  its  ready  sympathy 
with  both  of  these  forms  of  human  experience.  It 
will  gladden  at  the  view  of  human  happiness,  and 
sadden  at  the  sight  of  human  wretchedness.  It  rejoices 
with  the  joyous,  and  weeps  with  the  weeping.  It 
identifies  itself  with  others,  and  so  lives  in  their  life 
that  it  will  forget  its  own  griefs  in  their  joy,  and 
refuse  to  taste  its  own  abundance  while  it  knows  of 
another  that  is  pining  in  want.  And  yet  this  Christian 
kindness  will  not  exhaust  itself  in  mere  sympathetic 
emotion,  however  sincere  and  deep.  It  is  eminently 
practical,  and  prompts  to  instant  and  untiring  activity. 


7 


It  stretches  forth  the  hand  of  charity ; it  quickens  the 
feet  on  their  errands  of  mercy;  and  loosens  the  tongue 
to  give  utterance  to  its  messages  of  tenderness  and 
counsels  of  love.  It  stimulates  exertion,  so  far  as  may 
be,  to  rescue  the  miserable,  to  relieve  the  suffering,  to 
defend  the  injured,  and  to  protect  the  weak. 

The  monuments  of  Christian  kindness  stand  thick 
in  all  Gospel  lands.  It  has  built  and  endowed  hos- 
pitals and  asylums,  retreats  and  houses  of  refuge,  and 
made  public  provision  for  the  poor,  the  helpless  sick, 
the  deaf  and  blind,  the  insane  and  unfortunate  of  all 
classes.  It  has  associated  individual  activity  into  com- 
bined exertion  to  aid  in  all  benevolent  supplies  of 
bodily  need,  and  is  more  especially  Christian  in  widely 
meeting  the  spiritual  wants  and  removing  the  moral 
maladies  and  woes  of  mankind.  Perhaps  Christian 
charity  was  never  so  active  as  now,  and  never  pushing 
on  its  plans  so  systematically  and  comprehensively,  to 
reach  and  remove  all  forms  of  human  ill  that  come 
within  the  scope  of  human  help. 

But  let  us  carefully  attain  a fair  and  clear  estimate 
of  the  intrinsic  excellency  of  this  Christian  kindness. 
What  amount  of  genuine  Scripture  holiness,  or  hearty 
devotion  to  God,  does  it  include  1 It  is  here  assumed 
that  it  has  its  source  in  real  Christianity,  and  that  it  is 
the  exhibition  of  true  experimental  piety.  A Moham- 
medan may  possess  and  cultivate  great  constitutional 
kindness ; an  infidel  may  give  exhibitions  of  much 
philanthropy.  All  this  may  come  from  the  sympathies 
and  native  sensibilities  of  our  common  humanity.  But 
the  kindness  we  here  speak  of,  we  suppose  to  be  the 
grace  of  a new  heart,  and  the  fruit  of  Gospel  regenera- 
tion. It  loves  man  because  man  is  the  creature  of  God, 
and  the  subject  of  divine  redemption.  It  expects  to 


8 


make  man  happy  only  by  making  him  Christian.  All 
these  public  monuments  of  benevolence  belong  exclu- 
sively to  Christian  and  not  to  pagan  nations.  And  yet, 
Christian  as  it  is,  how  highly  shall  we  estimate  its  holi- 
ness 1 Where  is  the  real  force  of  the  disposition  and 
feeling  directed  and  exhausted  1 Evidently  the  most  of 
it  is  absorbed  in  the  merely  human  interest.  The  great 
evil  felt  is  human  suffering,  and  the  great  good  sought 
is  deliverance  from  suffering.  The  motives  applied  and 
the  appeals  made  are  mainly  to  human  sympathy.  The 
saddest  story  of  human  woe,  the  most  touching  tale  of 
distress,  is  spontaneously  assumed  and  practically  found 
to  be  the  most  effective  means  to  rouse  the  public  mind, 
and  move  the  church  to  afford  the  desired  help. 

It  is  the  same  in  our  plans  of  associated  benevolence. 
The  cause  of  temperance  is  to  be  promoted  by  prayer 
and  preaching  truth,  and  yet,  when  thus  made  a Chris- 
tian cause,  the  prayer  is  made  fervid,  and  the  truths  are 
derived,  very  much  from  the  miseries  of  the  drunkard, 
and  the  suffering  and  wretchedness  of  his  family  and 
the  community  from  his  intemperate  habit. 

The  abolition  of  slavery,  though  God’s  overruling 
hand  has  abolished  it,  with  us,  in  a more  terrible  and 
summary  manner,  was  all  along  steadily  and  strongly 
urged  from  considerations  of  its  inhumanity,  and  the 
hope  of  success  was  made  very  much  to  turn  upon  vivid 
exhibitions  of  its  injuries  and  cruelties.  Our  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions  has  taken  deep  and  strong  hold  upon 
the  Christian  community,  and  yet  this  most  sublime 
and  most  sacred  Christian  work  is  very  commonly 
argued  from  the  facts  of  heathen  wretchedness  and 
inhuman  torture.  We  are  made  to  shiver  with  horror 
at  the  terrible  details  of  child-murder,  the  hook-swing- 
ing, the  suttee-burning,  and  the  miserable  victims  of 


9 


superstition  crushed  beneath  the  car  of  their  bloody  gods. 
Yea,  even  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls,  both  at  home 
and  among  the  heathen,  is  pressed  as  a matter  for 
Christian  prayer  and  labor,  very  much  from  considera- 
tions of  human  kindness  only.  Their  misery  in  hell, 
and  their  happiness  in  heaven,  are  the  great  motives 
of  appeal  from  Christian  pulpits  to  Christian  congre- 
gations. 

The  prominent  evil  is  human  misery ; the  great 
burden  is  human  suffering  from  human  cruelty  and 
wrong, — “ Man’s  inhumanity  to  man.”  The  grand  con- 
summation of  Christian  effort  is  human  relief  from 
human  woe.  Charity  and  prayer,  the  church  and  the 
Bible,  are  for  man’s  happiness  only,  and  even  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  the  Saviour  are  needed,  and  are  only  to  be 
valued,  as  means  to  exclude  man’s  misery  and  minister 
to  man's  wants.  Humanity  is  thus  put  as  the  ultimate 
end. and  measure,  and  even  God  and  heaven  come  to  be 
estimated  for  man’s  sake.  If  man  may  be  relieved  from 
suffering  in  this  world  and  the  next,  the  Christian’s 
prayer  is  answered  and  his  religion  satisfied.  There  is 
much  that  seems  to  say,  ‘ All  that  I value  a crucified 
Saviour  and  the  Divine  Comforter  for  is,  they  are  seen 
to  be  necessary  to  redeem  man  from  wretchedness  and 
secure  that  he  shall  be  happy.’  Here  is  Christianity 
exhibiting  itself  controllingly  in  the  form  of  kindness. 
It  cheerfully  makes  great  sacrifices,  and  undertakes  the 
most  self-denying  enterprises,  for  human  relief  and 
human  happiness. 

Suppose,  then,  this  religion  of  Christian  kindness  to 
be  universally  diffused  through  the  nations.  Every 
people,  and  every  person  amid  all  peoples,  lives  and 
loves  in  cordial  Christian  brotherhood.  How  great  the 
change  over  the  whole  surface  of  our  planet ! War 


10 


has  ceased ; the  oppressor  has  thrown  his  broken  rod 
away.  And  yet  is  this  the  complete  idea  of  the  world’s 
conversion  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  X Is  the  full  import 
of  the  bowing  knees,  and  the  confessing  tongues,  to 
Him  who  is  Lord  of  all,  here  brought  outl  Much  as 
every  Christian  heart  will  rejoice  to  anticipate  such  a 
good  time  coming  in  our  world,  yet  will  not  the  enlight- 
ened and  highly  sanctified  Christian  hope  and  expecta- 
tion be  in  this  completely  satisfied.  He  cannot,  as  a 
Christian,  have  habitually  and  intelligently  prayed, 
“ Thy  kingdom  come,”  and  then  look  round  and  say,  In 
this,  thy  kingdom,  Lord,  has  fully  come.  If  this  is 
truly  Christian  attainment  and  experience,  and  herein  is 
heaven  begun  below,  yet  surely  must  we  say,  that  this 
is  heaven  only  in  its  lowest  sphere. 

II.  We  advance  in  the  completeness  of  the  idea,  when 
we  contemplate  Christian  activity  in  the  exhibition  of  deep 
love  to  the  Redeemer. 

A thoroughly  convicted  sinner,  bowed  down  under 
his  burden  of  guilt,  crying  out  in  the  bitterness  of  his 
anxious  spirit,  “What  must  Ido  to  be  saved  X ” may 
graciously  receive  such  a view  of  a suffering  Saviour  as 
shall  immediately  melt  his  soul  in  confiding  submission 
and  love.  To  such  a soul,  at  once  there  appears  a 
beauty  and  a preciousness  in  the  newly-found  Saviour, 
which  his  heart  will  want  words  to  express.  Every 
utterance  of  his  lips  will  be  joy  and  praise.  His  feel- 
ings may  seem  enthusiastic,  and  his  joy  extravagant,  to 
such  as  have  known  nothing  of  his  deep  experience. 
He  makes  use  of  the  most  expressive  Scripture  lan- 
guage, and  the  words  of  the  most  impassioned  poetry, 
to  speak  out  his  gratitude  and  love  to  Jesus.  Christ  is 
to  him  “ the  chiefcst  among  ten  thousand,”  and  “ the 


11 


one  altogether  lovely;  ” none  in  Heaven  but  Him,  and 
none  on  earth  to  be  compared  with  Him.  His  life  is  a 
perpetual  hymn  of  joy  and  praise.  He  testifies,  in 
words  none  too  strong  for  his  emotions,  that — 


“ When  Christ  revealed  his  gracious  name,. 
And  changed  my  mournful  state, 

My  rapture  seemed  a pleasing  dream, 
The  joy  appeared  so  great.” 


His  own  praises  are  too  poor  to  requite  the  wondrous 
grace,  and  he  would  have  all  others  join  in  grateful 
thanksgiving.  lie  wants  all  nature  to  conspire  in  his 
enraptured  song. 

“ Oh  ! for  this  love,  let  rocks  and  hills 
Their  lasting  silence  break, 

And  all  harmonious  human  tongues, 

The  Saviour’s  praises  speak.” 

He  lives  on,  thus,  in  faith  and  prayer,  and  while  his 
emotions  become  more  chastened,  his  love  to  his  Re- 
deemer grows  deeper,  and  the  joy  in  his  salvation  is 
the  more  abundant  from  day  to  day.  The  love  of  Christ 
constrains  him  to  live,  not  henceforth  unto  himself,  but 
unto  Him  who  died  for  him  and  rose  again.  The  heathen 
convert  to  Christ  participates  in  all  this  admiring  grati- 
tude and  praise. 

And  now,  in  this  experience,  the  principle  in  conver- 
sion works  much  deeper  than  the  law  of  Christian 
kindness.  The  sanctifying  elements  come  out  more 
distinctly,  and  control  the  life  more  strongly  and  more 
completely.  There  is  as  much  Christian  kindness  as  in 
the  case  of  one  under  the  former  division.  He  feels 
and  manifests  as  deep  an  interest  in  the  happiness  of 
his  fellow-men  as  the  other.  He  enters  into  every 
plan  of  benevolence  with  as  warm  a zeal ; he  hates  as 


12 


intensely  all  cruelty  and  oppression  ; he  gives  and  prays 
as  abundantly  for  the  heathen ; he  labors  as  painfully 
to  pluck  sinners  as  brands  from  the  burning.  But  all 
this  is  manifestly,  now,  not  so  much  for  man’s  sake. 
The  whole  Christian  activity  is  from  a far  more  pene- 
trating and  all-pervading  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
lie  would  have  the  miserable  to  he  happy  ; the  oppress- 
ed to  go  out  free;  the  ignorant  to  be  enlightened;  the 
guilty  and  condemned  to  be  pardoned  and  saved  ; but 
all  this  is  with  him  for  Christ’s  sake,  and  in  Christ’s 
name,  to  the  praise  of  his  grace,  and  that  it  may  mag- 
nify his  redeeming  love  and  mercy.  His  Saviour  has 
done  so  much  for  him  and  for  a lost  world,  and  his 
gratitude  is  so  full  and  deep  for  this,  that  he  cannot 
permit  anything  to  come  in  competition  with  it.  If 
every  human  woe  were  relieved,  and  every  wrong 
redressed,  and  every  sinner  pardoned,  this  could  not 
fill  his  desire,  till  he  should  see  his  Saviour  have  all  the 
praise.  Palms  and  harps  and  crowns  of  immortal 
glory,  they  are  nothing  to  him  except  as  every  palm- 
branch  waves,  and  every  harp  is  struck,  and  every 
crown  is  cast  down,  to  the  honor  of  Him  whom,  in  his 
love,  he  crowns  Lord  of  all. 

But  we  have  here  a careful,  though  a very  decided 
discrimination  to  be  made.  Supreme  love  to  Jesus 
Christ  should  be  consistent  with  supreme  love  to  the 
triune  Jehovah,  and  thus  stand  in  connection  with  that 
which  gives  Christian  completeness  ; but  it  may  often 
be  in  such  a form  as  shall  make  the  Christian  life  and 
spirit  quite  defective.  In  what  aspect  is  the  Saviour 
viewed,  on  which  side  of  the  Redeemer’s  face  does  the 
light  shine,  that  he  is  so  admired  and  loved  1 If 
the  constituted  Mediator  is  regarded  mainly  in  man's 
interest  and  on  man’s  behalf,  while  there  may  be  so 


13 


much  devotion  to  God  as  shall  evince  a genuine  Chris- 
tian conversion,  still  this  Christian  experience  will  come 
short  of  the  fullness,  and  stand  quite  back  from  the 
completeness  of  the  great  Gospel  idea. 

There  is  a view  in  which  Christ  is  supreme.  The 
sinner  can  look  to  nothing  else.  Hope  and  help  can 
come  to  lost  man  from  no  other  quarter.  Man’s  moral- 
ity, his  legal  obedience,  his  ritual  observances  and 
mortifying  penances  are  utterly  worthless.  To  expiate 
guilt  and  take  the  curse  of  the  broken  law  away, 
nothing  but  Christ  and  him  crucified  can  have  any 
possible  validity.  God  can  pardon  and  justify  for 
Christ’s  sake,  but  from  no  other  consideration.  Christ 
is  “ all  in  all  ” in  man’s  salvation.  But  there  is  another 
view  in  which  Christ  and  his  mediation  are  subordinate, 
and  a view  which  is  important  both  for  man  and  God. 
Here,  he  is  means  and  not  end  ; an  instrument  whose 
value  is  only  in  the  use  made  of  it.  The  incarnation, 
and  the  entire  redemptive  work,  form  only  the  scaffold- 
ing by  which  to  erect  a glorious  spiritual  temple  ; and 
when  that  temple  shall  be  completed,  the  scaffolding 
shall  be  taken  down.  “ Then  shall  the  Son  also  himself 
be  subject  unto  Him  that  put  all  things  under  him, 
that  God  [the  triune  Jehovah]  may  be  all  in  all.”  1 Cor. 
xv.  28.  Here,  Christ  as  Saviour,  and  man  as  saved, 
are  all  made  to  minister  to  the  higher  end  of  the  divine 
honor  and  glory. 

Now  the  form  of  Christian  life  and  action,  as  con- 
sidered under  this  second  division  of  discourse,  takes 
Christ  and  his  great  work  of  Redemption  mainly  in 
the  interest  of  humanity.  It  loves  him  more  in  view  of 
what  he  has  done  for  man  than  in  view  of  what  he  has 
done  for  God.  It  is  the  deep  emotional  view,  as  coming 

out  in  our  revival  scenes,  and  communion  seasons,  and  in 
2 


14 


what  is  esteemed  to  be,  and  very  probably  is,  the  highest 
religious  experience  and  spiritual  attainment  of  the 
greater  portion  of  the  active  Christianity  of  the  present 
day.  It  is  sincere  and  ardent  love  to  Jesus,  and  calls 
out  for  him  and  his  cause  great  and  willing  self-sacri- 
fices ; but  the  Jesus  that  is  so  loved  and  served  is  seen 
as  weeping,  bleeding,  dying,  and  interceding  for  lost  and 
ruined  man.  The  Saviour  in  whose  praise  the  heart  is 
so  warm,  is  Christ  in  his  pity — his  travail  of  soul  for  the 
perishing.  This  form  of  piety  is  thus  higher  than  Chris- 
tian kindness,  but  it  is  still  love  and  gratitude  for  Jesus’ 
kindness  shown  to  sinners.  It  preaches  Christ  as  the 
great  orthodox  central  truth  of  the  Gospel  scheme,  but 
it  is  mainly  Christ  as  all  in  all  for  the  sinner’s  salvation. 
It  bows  the  knee,  and  confesses  that  Christ  is  Lord  ; but 
this  is  more  in  the  gratulation  of  man  delivered  than 
“ to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.” 

Were  there  then  such  a Christian  life  brought  out, 
and  such  a spirit  of  love  and  praise  to  Jesus  spread 
over  all  the  earth,  it  would  doubtless  fit  for  a higher 
heaven  than  the  life  of  Christian  kindness,  but  the 
praise  is  still  mainly  to  the  Saviour,  as  he  brings  “ peace 
on  earth  and  good-will  to  men,”  rather  than  the  full 
chorus  of  the  upper  heaven,  which  keeps  first  in  the 
song,  “ Glory  to  God  in  the  highest.” 

III.  The  complete  idea  comes  out  fully,  in  reverent  and 
child-like  communion  with  the  Holy  God  as  our  Heavenly 
Father. 

A true  conception  of  God,  adequately  apprehending 
his  holiness,  glory,  and  majesty,  must  necessarily 
awaken  great  fear  and  awe.  All  intelligences  must 
stand  in  his  presence  in  uncovered  homage.  Here 
angels  bow,  and  reverently  veil  their  faces.  Cherubim 


15 


and  Seraphim  cry  continually,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord 
God  Almighty  ; heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  thy  glory. 
No  mortal  can  stand  before  him  without  feeling  the 
force  of  the  direction  to  Moses  before  the  burning  bush : 
“ Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place 
whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.” 

To  every  wicked  man,  the  conscious  approach  to  such 
a presence  must  be  terrible.  It  is  this  which  makes 
the  view  of  present  death  so  dreadful  to  the  sinner. 
He  then  wakes  from  his  long,  delusive  dream,  to  find 
this  holy  God  directly  before  him.  To  all  the  guilty, 
“ God  is  a consuming  fire and  even  to  a good  man, 
standing  in  his  own  name,  such  a meeting  with  God  is 
awful.  So  terrible  was  the  sight  that  Moses  said,  “ I 
exceedingly  fear  and  quake.”  An  unsinning  angel  may 
appear  with  covered  face  before  him,  but  sinful  man 
must  ever,  as  at  the  first  transgression,  hide  from  his 
presence. 

And  yet  this  very  God,  in  his  holiness,  has  also  of 
his  own  mercy  provided  a way  wherein  sinners  may 
come  to  him,  and  commune  with  him,  and  feel  no  tor- 
menting fear.  When  we  look  to  him  through  his  own 
constituted  Mediator,  who  has  taken  our  nature  and 
borne  our  sorrows,  the  terror  of  his  presence  is  softened 
to  paternal  benignity,  and  our  feeling  becomes  that  of 
filial  reverence.  Distressing  dismay  subsides  into  child- 
like respect  aud  adoring  love.  The  redeemed  sinner 
can  now  stand  beneath  that  blazing  eye  which  searcheth 
his  deepest  secret,  and  bow  before  Him  in  whose  sight 
the  heavens  are  not  clean  ; and  yet  here,  under  the 
shield  of  his  accepted  Redeemer,  he  loves  to  abide,  and 
joyfully  worships  in  the  very  holy  of  holies.  With  all 
his  holiness  and  dread  authority,  the  penitent  soul  has 
now  learned  also  his  Fatherly  compassion  and  grace, 
and  is  not  afraid  to  stand  before  him. 


16 

These  emotions  of  filial  reverence  and  love,  in  com- 
munion with  God,  can  be  realized  by  us,  sinners,  only  as 
we  stand  reconciled  and  accepted  in  the  merits  of  our 
Mediator,  but  they  do  come  in  the  hallowed  hours  of 
our  intimate  communion  with  our  heavenly  Father,  and 
they  are  the  most  sublimely  elevating  and  soul-satisfy- 
ing emotions  the  immortal  mind  can  experience.  The 
soul  of  man  never  rises  to  the  height  of  its  dignity  and 
bliss,  till  it  can  stand  thus  in  glad  and  intimate  com- 
munion with  God.  Not  in  seeking  and  giving  human 
happiness,  not  even  in  praising  Christ  for  his  pity  to 
man,  do  we  attain  our  highest  elevation  ; but  worship- 
ing delighted  amid  all  this  majesty  and  glory,  and  led 
here  by  the  hand  of  our  accepted  Redeemer — precisely 
in  this  is  the  fullness  of  the  Christian  life  brought  out. 
These  adoring  frames  of  mind,  and  humble  and  sweet 
communings  in  his  love  and  grace,  sometimes  vouch- 
safed to  pious  saints  on  earth,  give  to  them  the  richest 
foretaste  of  the  blessedness  they  are  to  inherit,  when 
they  shall  dwell  with  God  in  the  highest  heaven. 

Most  surely,  as  they  stand  here  in  glad  communion 
with  the  Father,  and  with  their  hand  in  the  haftd  of  the 
Son  as  Mediator,  they  will  love  and  thank  the  Saviour 
as  deeply  as  when  dwelling  upon  his  compassion  and 
sympathy  for  lost  men.  They  will  lose  nothing  of  their 
tenderness  and  gratitude  towards  Jesus  Christ,  only 
they  do  not  here  look  so  exclusively  upon  the  human 
side  of  his  mediation.  They  arc  far  more  adequately 
taking  into  view  the  great  work  of  redemption,  and 
contemplating  it  much  as  Jesus  did  when  he  undertook 
and  finished  it.  Not  man  only,  nor  man  most,  in  his 
wretchedness  and  ruin,  but  God  in  his  authority  and 
majesty,  God  in  his  holiness  and  purity,  so  bright  that 
all  else  pales  and  fades  beneath  it ; and  yet  God,  this 


17 


awful  God,  made  ours  by  his  own  plan  of  redemption, 
which  Jesus  has  executed.  The  dreadful  majesty  has 
become  not  merely  tolerable  to  us,  so  that  we  cau  look 
upon  the  glory,  and  live,  but  it  has  become  most 
intensely  delightful  to  us,  so  that,  with  the  seraphim, 
we  burn  with  love  while  we  adore.  No  where  else  is 
the  glory  so  awful,  and  hence  no  where  else  is  Christ 
so  needful.  Nothing  so  elevates  man,  and  hence  nothing 
so  magnifies  the  Saviour’s  worth,  as  this  communion  of 
the  reclaimed  sinner  with  the  forgiving  Father,  through 
the  atoning  Redeemer.  Here  will  be  kindness  to  man, 
and  thanks  to  Christ  for  man’s  sake,  but  beyond  all 
this,  the  glories  of  the  Godhead  appear.  Mercy  re- 
joices against  judgment,  while  yet  justice  and  judgment 
continue  to  be  “ the  habitation  of  his  throne.”  God 
remains  just,  while  he  yet  justifies  the  believer.  The 
fullness  of  the  Father’s  heart,  in  its  justice  and  its 
mercy,  stands  disclosed,  and  in  the  lasting  communion 
our  souls  are  “ filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God.” 

When  all  the  tribes  of  men  on  earth  shall  have  been 
thus  converted,  and  confess  Christ  “ to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father ,”  then  will  the  Gospel  idea  of  the  world’s 
salvation  be  attained  in  its  consummated  reality.  The 
great  voices  in  heaven  will  then  say,  “ The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of 
his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.”  Hence- 
forth the  redeemed  will  sing  the  eternal  anthem,  Alle- 
luia to  God  and  the  Lamb. 

In  closing,  we  will  directly  apply  the  conclusion  now 
attained  to  our  great  missionary  work. 

Comprehensively,  this  work  is  to  “ preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature.”  The  completeness  of  the  idea  is  in 
bringing  back  all  these  aliens  to  near  communion  with 


18 


God.  Heathen  society  is  everywhere  wretched  in  its 
unkindness.  Selfishness  reigns  unbroken.  They  live 
“ in  malice  and  envy,  hateful,  and  hating  one  another.” 
But  the  pagan  nations  are  still  more  miserable,  in  that 
they  are  without  God,  and  have  no  hope  in  the  world. 
They  have  no  conception  of  a Deity  with  whom  it  may 
be  possible  that  man  should  hold  joyful  communion. 
Their  gods  are  capricious  and  fickle,  lavishing  gifts  in 
their  fondness  upon  their  favorites,  which  stimulates 
them  to  only  a selfish  and  mercenary  devotion,  and 
wreaking  vengeance  in  their  wrath  in  such  a bloody 
way  as  only  to  excite  horror  and  hatred.  There  is  no 
blending  of  majesty  and  mercy,  no  tempering  the  divine 
character  with  dignity  and  amenity,  which  may  at  once 
inspire  reverence  and  love.  The  god  and  the  man  can- 
not meet  peacefully  together.  The  god  will  despise  the 
man,  and  the  man  will  contemn  the  god.  No  pagan 
devotee  ever  worships  a deity  in  whom  he  sees  mercy 
and  truth  meeting  together,  and  righteousness  and  peace 
embracing  each  other. 

But  what  paganism  never  apprehends,  the  Bible 
everywhere  discloses.  In  the  Christian  economy,,  justice 
and  grace  ever  meet,  and  support  each  other.  Authority 
is  sustained,  while  benignity  prevails.  With  all  his 
terrible  majesty  on  the  smoking  mountain,  amid  the 
tlmnderings  and  lightning,  still  the  divine  Lawgiver 
proclaims  himself  “ the  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful 
and  gracious.”  At  the  awful  day  of  the  last  judgment, 
when  he  comes  in  clouds,  with  all  his  holy  angels,  there 
is  still  the  softening  of  the  scene  in  the  expiatory  mark 
of  the  spear ; and  we  look  on  him  “ whom  they  have 
pierced.”  The  mixed  majesty  and  mercy  perpetually 
strike  the  sinner’s  attention,  and  win  him  to  intimate 
and  joyous  communion.  The  human  heart  is  here  hit 


19 


by  the  flash  of  combined  severity  and  tenderness,  as 
was  denying  Peter  by  the  look  of  his  Master,  and  in 
heathen  and  Christian  lands  alike,  penitence  goes  away 
alone  and  weeps  bitterly. 

Philosophy  analyzes,  and  accurately  discriminates  the 
elements  in  these  Christian  experiences,  bnt  the  practi- 
cal metaphysician  takes  the  facts  which  are  the  fruit  of 
the  speculation,  and  simply  and  directly  uses  them  to 
bring  back  lost  humanity  into  communion  with  propiti- 
ated Deity.  There  must  be  apprehended  the  severity 
tempered  by  placability.'  The  sinner  is  not  made  alive 
by  the  Gospel,  till  first  he  has  been  slain  by  the  Law. 
Compassion  will  not  effectually  “ persuade  men,”  except 
as  they  also  know  “ the  terrors  of  the  Lord.” 

Wherever  this  rational,  as  truly  as  evangelical  way 
of  return  to  God  is  kept  in  obscurity,  or  held  in  incom- 
pleteness, there  will  be,  on  any  portion  of  the  great  field 
of  benevolent  labor,  pagan  or  Christian,  a large  amount 
of  religious  effort  utterly  wasted.  Much  of  that  which 
is  called  powerful  preaching,  revival  preaching,  ardent 
missionary  zeal,  very  soon  exhausts  all  its  efficiency. 
When  the  appeals  are  to  the  hope  of  human  happiness 
mainly,  or  fear  of  coming  misery,  or  melting  exhibi- 
tions of  Jesus’  sympathy  with  suffering  humanity,  there 
may  be  a quick  interest  excited,  the  freshness  and  force 
of  which  soon  passes  off,  and  the  themes  become  idle 
and  empty  as  the  tales  of  the  nursery.  Even  the  sacred 
story  of  the  Saviour’s  dying  love  may  be  told  with  such 
an  application  that  the  power  of  the  cross  shall  be 
made  weakness.  When  put  in  the  light  merely  of 
relief  from  wretchedness,  or  attainment  of  happiness, 
whether  here  or  hereafter,  the  great  transactions  of 
Calvary  will  quickly  wear  out  as  motives  to  action.  To 
him  who  closely  reads  human  nature,  there  will  be  no 


20 


mystery,  under  such  influence,  that  so  much  apparent 
“ goodness  is  as  a morning  cloud  and  as  the  early 
dew.”  He  will  not  wonder  that  the  sensational  preach- 
ers and  sentimental  hearers  so  soon  get  tired  of  each 
other. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  that  kind  of  dealing  with 
fallen  man,  in  any  clime,  which  takes  him  into  the 
presence  of  the  heart-searching  God,  and  obliges  him 
to  see  the  necessity  of  meeting  and  gaining  preparation 
for  communing  with  him — such  preaching  and  dealing 
with  the  sinner  never  loses  its  power.  It  penetrates  to 
the  deepest  fountains  of  the  soul,  and  such  motives 
never  wear  out.  To  these  appeals,  the  ear  of  saint  and 
sinner  ever  opens,  and  the  convicted  man  is  forced  to 
cry  out,  “ Behold,  I am  vile,  what  shall  I answer  thee  ? 
I will  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth.”  “ I have  heard  of 
thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth 
thee ; wherefore  I abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes  !”  We  shall  make  the  most  Christians,  at  home 
and  abroad,  we  shall  make  the  best  Christians,  when 
we  constrain  the  most  directly  to  the  inquiry,  How 
shall  I appear  before  God  \ and  when  we  bring  the 
soul  at  length  into  the  most  intimate  communion  with 
God. 

The  nations  of  the  earth  wait  for  the  day  of  universal 
peace,  and  all  the  families  of  mankind  need  to  be 
brought  together  in  love  and  kindness.  Commercial 
intercourse  will  not  effect  this.  Literature,  philosophy, 
political  diplomacy,  will  never  kindle  and  diffuse  Chris- 
tian philanthropy.  The  love  of  Christ  shed  abroad 
in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  bringing  into  love 
to  and  communion  with  God,  will  alone  bring  men 
truly  to  love  one  another.  The  greater  contains  the 
less,  and  communion  with  God  holds  within  it  also 


21 


fellowship  with  man.  We  are  to  value  communion 
with  God  not  as  the  means  to  get  the  further  end  that 
man  should  be  kind  to  man,  but  because  godly  com- 
munion is  itself  the  highest  grace  in  its  own  excellency, 
and  includes  and  sustains  within  itself,  love  to  man,  and 
all  lower  graces.  It  is  the  great  end  of  Christian  con- 
version itself,  and  the  consummation  of  the  Christian 
life,  that  the  sinning  soul  has  been  brought  to  dwell  in 
peace  with  God.  We  shall  have  finished  our  mission- 
ary work,  and  prepared  the  heathen  for  all  other  good, 
and  brought  humanity  to  its  highest  excellency,  when 
we  shall  have  brought  the  feeling  of  the  Psalmist  to  be 
universal,  “ My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the 
courts  of  the  Lord  ; my  heart  and  my  flesh  crieth  out 
for  the  living  God.” 

And  now,  brethren,  this  same  thing,  so  important  for 
the  heathen  world,  is  equally  important  for  us  in  labor- 
ing for  their  salvation.  As  co-workers  with  God  for  a 
dying  world,  our  first  need  is,  that  we  come  close  to 
him,  and  keep  in  habitual  communion  with  him.  We 
shall  so  be  “ changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory 
to  glory,”  and  our  love  and  devotion  to  him  will  grow 
deeper  and  purer  from  year  to  year.  This  communion 
with  the  Father  will  be  through  the  Son,  but  in  the 
mediation  of  the  Son  we  shall  read  the  very  heart  of 
the  Father.  All  that  the  Son  suffered  and  does  for  a 
lost  world,  is  but  fulfilling  the  plan  and  executing  the 
will  of  the  Father.  Distinction  of  office  and  execution 
in  the  redemption-work,  makes  no  distinction  in  design 
and  disposition.  “Here  the  whole  Deity  is  known;” 
“ the  justice  and  the  grace”  have  equal  glory  ; and  the 
justice  and  the  grace  have  no  distribution,  in  property 
or  degree,  among  the  persons  of  the  Godhead.  Our 


22 


communion  here  is  with  God  in  his  unity,  and  the 
fellowship  is  equally  with  the  Father,  and  writh  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  giving  our 
hearts  to  God,  we  receive  in  return  a Father’s  embrace, 
an  elder  Brother’s  welcome,  and  the  in-dwelling  Spirit 
of  perpetual  consolation. 

Here,  too,  we  get  our  true  and  deep  sympathy  for  the 
heathen.  We  shall  pity  their  personal  debasement, 
their  social  degradation,  and  most  of  all  shall  we  pity 
their  alienation  from  God.  All  other  woes  are  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  absolute  desolation  of  living 
without  God.  The  same  impulse  will  then  move  us 
towards  them  as  that  which  sent  the  Saviour  to  our  lost 
world.  “ Lo,  I come.”  “ I delight  to  do  thy  will,  O my 
God.”  Communion  in  God’s  will  is  our  best  prepara- 
tion for  all  missionary  service.  Nothing  else  can  make 
us  so  strong  to  carry  help  to  the  lost  nations  and  tribes 
of  men.  When  discouragements  and  disasters  and 
delays  press  upon  us,  nothing  else  can  keep  us  so  hope- 
ful, so  enduring,  so  persevering.  Amid  all  sorts  of 
hindrances,  this  will  make  us  patient,  courageous,  and 
at  length  triumphant.  In  every  difficulty  and  trial  we 
have  but  to  say, 

“ Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee, 

Nearer  to  tliee,” 


and  we  shall  go  on  refreshed  and  unfaltering.  Near  to 
God  ourselves,  wc  shall  not  fail  nor  grow  weary  in 
bringing  others  to  him.  We  shall  expect  and  choose 
not  to  rest,  till  we  reach  the  heavenly  communion. 

Out  of  this  fallen  world,  God  has  revealed  to  us  that 
he  will  gather  a redeemed  world  of  his  own.  He  will 
“ purify  unto  himself  a peculiar  people.”  In  all  ages 
he  has  had  a seed  to  serve  him,  and  the  promised  age  is 


23 


coming  when  all  shall  know  the  Lord.  Our  part, 
brethren,  in  the  good  work,  will  soon  cease.  But  all 
are  one  in  Christ  Jesus,  “ of  whom  the  whole  family  in 
heaven  and  earth  is  named,”  and  those  who  go  up  to 
their  communion  with  God,  face  to  face,  will  have  their 
places  here  tilled  with  other  workers,  growing  more 
zealous,  more  successful.  The  spiritual  temple  shall 
gather  its  living  stones  from  every  land,  and  grow  up 
to  its  finished  consummation.  The  voices  of  all  the 
holy  in  heaven  and  earth  shall  shout  the  top-stone  to  its 
place,  crying,  “ Grace,  grace,  unto  it.”  “ Every  tongue 
shall  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father.” 


